Name: Shimmer and Shine Cupcakes
Ingredients: For the cupcakes; 1 1/3 cup All purpose flour; 1/3 cup Water; 1/4 cup Vegetable oil; 1 1/3 cup Granulated sugar; 2/3 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder; 2/3 cup Firmly packed light brown sugar; 4 eggs1 cup Sour cream; 2 tsp Vanilla extract; 1 1/2 teaspoons Baking soda; 1 tsp Baking powder; 1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp Salt; 12 Pink silicone cupcake liners; Decorations; Pink buttercream frosting; Sprinkles: purple, yellow and teal; Fondant: pink and lavender; Equipment; Small paint brush; Small teardrop cookie cutter; Fondant rolling pin; Piping tip #6, #829; Piping bags; 12-muffin pan

Why it works: Vanilla and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,287 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,287 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cocoa powder + vanillatop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,189 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
All purpose flour: Provides the main structure of the cupcake crumb.
Sour cream: Adds moisture and tenderness to the crumb.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic cocoa and batter to lift the cupcakes as they bake.
Granulated sugar: Sweetens the batter and helps keep the crumb moist and tender.
Unsweetened cocoa powder: Gives the cupcakes their chocolate flavor and deep color.

The step that matters

Filling the liners to 2/3 full. Overfilling can make batter spill over and bake unevenly, while underfilling gives small cupcakes. Leaving room lets the batter rise in the oven without overflowing.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Lavender	not in our table	0

Shimmer and Shine Cupcakes